Anuradha was indeed blessed by the goddess of good luck and fortune just as her name translates! An all-rounder student, a favorite of her teachers and friends, a star in classical dancing and a very kind-hearted human being that any parent would dream their child would be like is how 12 years old Anuradha can be described. But all the happiness and peace in the family was shattered in a day when the apple of their eye suddenly had multiple episodes of black out after a day of fever. She was taken to a hospital where she was given primary aid, but upon noticing a very low heart rate the child was soon referred to Aster Medcity for further treatment.
A normal person of her age usually has a heart rate of 80 beats per minute but Anuradha's heart was beating at a very slow rate of 42 times in a minute. She was noted to have a complete heart block on evaluation which meant that the electric signals produced by her heart was not able to reach all other parts of her heart. This condition can rarely happen after some viral fever which may affect the heart along with other organs in the body and could even be fatal. And since it had happened so suddenly, her body was not able to cope up with it which resulted in black outs. A temporary pacemaker was put in immediately and she was started on treatment for myocarditis. But the disease was so fulminant that it affected the pumping mechanism of heart significantly and the very next day she had to be connected to a mechanical ventilator for support.
While everybody hoped and prayed that she would recover, her condition only deteriorated further and she developed multi organ dysfunction which affected her kidney and liver mandating dialysis support. Her father who was working abroad left his job and immediately flew down to see her as she was battling for life. With his consent she was supported with extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) which was the only way to give rest to her weak heart hoping that it would help it heal faster. Her body slowly recovered starting with the return of normal heart rate and rhythm.
After a long fortnight of battling with the disease, lady luck again smiled at her and she returned back to normal life. It was tons of prayers from the loved ones and combined effort put in by the pediatric cardiology team lead by Dr. Edwin Francis with the help of ICU and surgical term members Dr. Akanksha Jain, Dr. Sajan Koshy and Dr. Suresh G Nair that helped to pull her out of the deep mire. It was with happy tears and a heart filled with gratitude that the family took her back home.
